Following his debut in 1790 at the Paris Opera with the ballerina Madeleine Guimard, he later turned to choreography, creating several celebrated ballets, including La Métamorphose, Flore et Zéphyre,Don Quixote, and Apollon et Daphné. He is credited with important innovations, among them flying dancers via a wiring system, and with major changes in costume (supposedly introducing flesh-tinted tights for ballerinas).

From 1801 to 1811 he was ballet master and choreographer of the St. Petersburg Imperial School of Ballet. After working in London and Paris, he returned (1816) to St. Petersburg for the rest of his life, during which he produced more than 50 ballets that ventured into the Romantic milieu and applied the principles of his teacher, Jean-Georges Noverre. His own teaching method was considered revolutionary; his wife, Mme Rose (Colinette) Didelot, was also a dancer.

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